“I couldn’t be more pleased to welcome Cultivian to the Vestaron team,” said John Sorenson, CEO of Vestaron. “Their expertise in the agricultural arena will be a great addition to our Board of Directors, and their experience in bringing agricultural products to market will be of tremendous help as we commercialize our first product, a biological insecticide.”

Vestaron’s insecticides use naturally occurring peptide, which target new metabolic pathways, and therefore “get around the resistance problem,” according to the website. Identifying three peptide compounds that are needed for insect survival, Vestaron has an insecticide that takes a different approach than other insecticides on the market. The solution is safe for humans, birds, fish, and the environment, according to the company, and was approved in February for commercial use.

And Vestaron is not only working on a pesticide that targets these peptides, but also sees potential for genetically modifying crops to be pest resistant.

Did you know that AgFunder is one of the most active agrifood tech investors?

“We’ve followed Vestaron for several years now and this is clearly the right time for Cultivian Sandbox to invest in the company,” Ron Meeusen, Managing Director of Cultivian Sandbox said. “They have made tremendous technical progress in the past two years, and the commercialization of their first product is exciting indeed.”

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